I just fed my corn snake (2 years old and female) her first ex-breeder size mouse from perfect prey. She ate that fine and was properly sized for her but two days later when I checked on her, a small lump appeared right behind her head. It seems to have gone down a bit in the past day but I’m still worried. It doesn’t feel hard so I’m guessing probably not any of her bedding, feels more like air.
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Corn Snake with lump behind head
- Thread starter WaterCat
- Start date
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
That's odd. Can you post a picture?
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
Oh okay, so the lump is more like in the throat area? Is she due for a shed?
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
Yes, it definitely could be. I'm not sure exactly how it's related, but occasionally corns will get a puffy throat right before a shed. The only other thing you might want to do is check inside her mouth for any signs of mouth rot or respiratory infection. It's not super easy to open their mouths, so if she's otherwise acting normal (eating fine, pooping, behavior seems fine), then I would probably give her a week or so to see if she's about to go blue. If she does go into a shed, then you can check on it again after the shed. If it's still present at that point, a vet visit with a reptile specialist vet would be necessary.
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
That will probably depend on the vet. Some may have experience with reptiles and others won't have any. You could call around and see if any of them will see snakes. Unfortunately it can be really hit or miss. I hate to ever recommend not going to a vet when a snake has a health issue, but sometimes vets that don't know reptiles can actually make things worse. For now, I would just wait and see what happens without intervention.
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
Is this vet nearby? https://bloomingpaws.net/
Your snake is very young for this to be the issue, but I had a ~13 year old corn with edema in the neck. I originally thought it was the typical throat swelling before shedding thing. It ended up being a symptom of having a cancerous tumor in the area near his lung and heart.
As said, your snake is awful young for such an issue. However, if you do end up at the vet, then it might not hurt to have a scan of the heart region. Or whatever the vet might recommend to check on the heart to see if it is fluid buildup as a result of a heart issue.
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As said, your snake is awful young for such an issue. However, if you do end up at the vet, then it might not hurt to have a scan of the heart region. Or whatever the vet might recommend to check on the heart to see if it is fluid buildup as a result of a heart issue.
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You said you had a snake with edema, did you notice if the swelling went away when your snake had its head upwards? My snake is crawling around tonight and I noticed no swelling when she had her head up, such as when crawling towards her lid, and no visible swelling while she was on the ground.
What kind of treatment was involved?
In my snake's case, euthanasia. There's really no such thing as cancer treatment for snakes.
The diagnosis I was hoping for was one of the heart conditions that sometimes affect snakes, in which case the treatments are medications.
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The diagnosis I was hoping for was one of the heart conditions that sometimes affect snakes, in which case the treatments are medications.
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Update: I finally got to the vet today and the vet said she looks really healthy no respiratory infection and the vet doesn't see a need for medical intervention as of now. The vet's guess was that Rosie's head was just too small for the mouse a little so it could be causing some inflammation when she eats, so I will be switching to a smaller mouse size.
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
Thanks for the update. I have never heard of that before, but I'm not a vet. You'll have to let us know if the swelling comes back.
Second update: Almost all swelling has gone away on the smaller size mouse, still appears the tiniest bit swollen from the right angle, but I suspect either the mouse is still slightly too large, or more likely it's just her growing up and changing shape to not have such skinny neck anymore. Anyway, she is still fine, shed great last week.